Your thoughts on LOGO?

Too much to do and not enough hours. I'll be happy to answer what I know, but you should realize that even though Logo owns this site, I really know very little about what they do and why they do it. My contact with Logo isn't a daily thing and consists mostly of my getting their press releases, screeners of shows, etc. As for their business model and thinking, they might as well be Mars as far as I know about that which, frankly, is a good thing as it indicates Logo has done what they said when they acquired us and pretty much left us alone to continue operating as we always have.

Here is what I do know--starting a network from scratch is damn hard and expensive. Logo isn't even two years old yet and unlike most networks which can appeal to a very wide audience, Logo had to appeal to the LGBT community. I've no idea the money involved, but I'd wager it was a slow roll-out to see what the reception was like.

To put it in historical perspective, FOX launched in October 9, 1986. Do you know when they put on their first original prime time programming? April 1987 when they launched Married with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show. Four weeks later they launched their Saturday night line-up which included Werewolf, Women in Prison^[4], The New Adventures of Beans Baxter and Second Chance Not exactly great stuff we all remember and this was with the deep pockets of Rupert Murdoch back when there was a whole lot less competition. My point is just that it's hard to fill all seven days with great stuff right away.

As for Undressed versus W&G all I can tell you is what they told me--they have an age range that thought best to appeal to and are basing decisions on that. And I'd imagine that just because they're owned by MTV, doesn't mean they can get any content they want. They still cost money which is why they can only get the rights to so many shows.

As for the shows under development they announced that didn't come to anything, well, that happens in TV all the time. I've heard about shows from all the networks that sounded great, but came to nothing. That is simply the nature of the biz. I do know Rick and Steve: The Happiest Couple in the World starts this summer and is getting great word-of-mouth, but I haven't seen it myself. As for the decision to turn Noah's Arc into a movie with possibility of more seasons, I'll refer you to our article about that where we got opinions from a lot of different folks.

I think Logo has done some very good things in less than two years. I thought US of Ant was great. The wedding program with Elvira Kurt has been very strong this year (I loved the premiere with Denys and Joa) and a number of their documentaries have been terrific. I just watched the first episode of this weekend's Be Real series which profiles folks in the community who have done something worthwhile.

BTW, as a viewer, I totally get your frustration as the issues in starting a new network aren't your problem. You simply want the network that you want to see and I get that. But all I can say is from what I've seen, everyone there is working their butts off to make it happen and I think it will be worth it to stick around and see what develops.

I realized my cable providered had Logo available late last year, and I have enjoyed the programming on the network.  I agree that sometimes the times are not properly lined up, but I think that has to do with their propensity to include shorts (short films) following movies, documentaries, episodes, etc...

 I will also agree that the somewhat random scheduling for shows is irritating. 

Every Sunday evening, I have The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters to watch, and during the commercials, I go through the entire week on Logo with my DVR and schedule recordings of all the shows that I want to see.  I can usually get through the entire week in about three ocmmercial breaks. 

I simply appreciate the fact that we have a network with content for us, showing us all different facets of life from a gay perspective, and I look forward to seeing it grow up, change, and mature.  I just hope it doesn't devolve into mindless drivel as MTV has done in the last few years.

 You know what?Maybe the problem is me.Maybe I expect to much from LOGO.I mean ideally i'd like the channel to be on the same level as the major networks and what they can do, but I guess that's never going to happen.None of the niche channels owned by Viacom are like that.I know Michael says to just give the channel time and i'm sure it'll get better, but I think LOGO is only going to go so far.

At the end of the day it's about money, and LOGO just isn't going to spend the kind money it takes for what I want to see.Don't get me wrong.It's not all bad.I like Rick & Steve:the happeist gay couple in all the world and some of the other shows, but as I said before new shows don't come as often as i'd like and their seasons are very short.I'm stilled pissed that they cut Noah's arc.

That brings me to the kind of programming they put on.I'm not a not big reality tv fan.I know i'm probably alone in this and it's probably cheaper to produce.I like a little reality tv now and then.I loved Open bar, Curl girls, and a few others, but couldn't watch Coming out stories, or the vast majority of reality tv.I still prefer the scripted show which is unfortunate for me because LOGO, along with a lot of networks, are becoming more and more, or are already all about reality shows.MTV used to have scripted shows like Undressed which, as I also said above, I love, but reality tv has taken over that channel, and that's all they show now.......exclusively.

Then there are the news briefs.They're shown so sporadically that if you don't watch them online you don't know when they'll be on.The news is a little fluffy and sometimes not even remotely related to anything gay.The other day I saw something about the queen of England getting upset because she was asked to take her crown off, and I was like "why do I need to know this, or care?"You'll have to excuse my ignorence because I have no idea what it takes to produce a news cast, but when I check 365gay everday I see what looks like it could be enough news to fill a half hour daily, or nightly news program.

I really think if Here! keeps growing and going in the direction it's been going in it'll pass LOGO by.I love their programming.It's uncensored, no commercials, they'll spend more money, and they still make scripted shows.Yeah, Dante's cove has a bit of a cheese factor, but atleast they try to combine gay content with classic and other genres I like.(i.e. gay content+sci fi, mysteries, noir, super natural, action, ect.)I hope the day will come when Comcast offers it as a linear channel.